Abstract

This thesis consists of two distinct sections. The first section consists of the two books of original poems, the first being The Camden Poems, a set of fifty-two
quatorzains. These unthymed sonnets have as their focus the immediate human environment of my life in Geelong and the Western Districts over the past twenty years. In many ways they are celebrations and observations, although some of the
poems are critical in their stance.
The second book of poems. Deluge, is a collection of twenty-three long poems set in Geelong during the flood of 1995. It utilises two urban myths of drowning to create a new myth as enunciated by the Narrator, about the Barwon River, its people and environs.
The second section is constructed as six chapters of prose addressing critical concerns. After an introductory chapter sketching out the main concerns and range of investigations undertaken through reading, I devote three chapters to
detailed examinations of how a range of poets have addressed similar concerns.
The following chapter presents detailed exegeses of the two books of poetry I have written.